Autumn, Puh-LEEZ
What kind of summer has it been here in the great San Joaquin Valley of California?
Hot, baby. Really hot and nasty.
Fresno has had about 45 days of 100 degrees-or-above temperatures so far. A few of those days have been ridiculous, with highs of 107 or 108.
Now, as scorching as this is — we’re not Phoenix. Oh, no.
So far, that desert city has suffered through more than 100 days of 100-degrees-or-more temperatures. About 55 of those days have reached at least 110 degrees.
But that is cold comfort for us here in the Valley. We need some heat relief, and we want and need it now. Fortunately, Kevin over at Channel 30 says it’s coming.
What we really need is the arrival of autumn here in the Valley.
Of all our seasons — autumn is our Emma Peel. The most beautiful.
If you’re not familiar with Emma — I invite you to Google “The Avengers” TV show from the 1960’s. The lovely Emma — played wonderfully by Diana Rigg — teamed with the handsome and debonair John Steed (Patrick Macnee) to form the most dynamic and attractive TV couple I had ever seen.
Each week, they worked, as secret agents, to save Great Britain from a variety of increasingly outrageous fiends.
The plots were crazy and funny. Steed and Peel were compelling and classy — Steed, the quintessential English gentleman with his bowler hat and umbrella (both of which he often used to great effect against the bad guys) — and Emma, the very, very modern English woman.
Their TV show — imported, yes, from Britain — became a smash hit here on ABC-TV.
And every young man at Fresno High — including me — was infatuated with Emma. She was my first TV love — and Steed and Peel became my favorite video “couple,” to be matched only — decades later — by Rick and Kate (Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic) on the “Castle” comedy-mystery series.
But where were we? Oh, yes. Summer, and dreams of autumn.
Summer heat is nothing new around these parts, of course. Our hardy pioneers in the late 1800’s had to surmount it as they rolled into the Valley on their horse-drawn carriages.
Then they had to survive scorching summers in their non-air-conditioned homes and businesses.
Yes, they were tougher than we are. But I bet they complained about the heat when they went to their neighborhood grocery stores or livery stables — just as we do when we go into our modern, cool supermarkets or Costcos or Walmarts.
Our goal is like theirs was — to survive until autumn rescues us.
Autumn. When mornings are crisper, and we start to wear long-sleeve pull-overs or sweatshirts.
Autumn. When our sky turns bluer and cleaner
Autumn. When our trees delight in showing off their colors. Not to the extent, of course, that the lucky folks in New England or the Upper Midwest get to see in October or November.
But our crepe myrtles will show off the last of their late-summer colors — and our Chinese pistache trees, along with our Bradford flowering pears and maples — will soon get to exhibit their fine hues.
Autumn. When just a few miles away in the foothills leading to the Sierra — groves of aspens and oaks and maples will shine their spectacular colors for any leaf-peepers who venture that way.
But fall is about much more than pretty trees. For one thing — autumn is the time of year when Friday night lights shine in so many communities up and down Highway 99.
Friday night football in our numerous small towns is a very big deal, to be sure. It’s not unknown for kids to grow up in our Selmas and Sangers and Kingsburgs and Fowlers — play football — and become heroes in their communities, forever.
Saturday night football in autumn in our Valley sees teams from several community colleges take the field. But the big deal — the honcho — of college football around these parts is Fresno State. The Bulldogs will play in the newly reconstituted Pac-12 starting this year.
No, it’s not as high-powered as the former Pac-12 — but don’t tell that to Bulldog fans who will jam our stadium.
Autumn is also about “reconnecting” with things that bring us comfort. Sweatshirts and sweaters. Hot chocolate.
And, yes, pumpkins. Lots of us buy big pumpkins — either at Costco or Target or at one of the numerous pumpkin patches around here — and proudly display them on our front porches from the end of September to mid-November.
One of the things I truly miss about autumns past in the Valley is smoke. Yes, smoke. The smell of burning leaves — or the smell of smoke from a fireplace — was one of those childhood experiences I’ve never forgotten.
Dad and I used to go out on Friday or Saturday nights to rake the leaves from the five sycamores we had in the parking strips of our corner house in Fresno.
We’d rake those leaves into giant piles — then light them on fire. Oh, how beautiful it was, seeing leaves burning on a chilly autumn night — and smelling that smoke. Of course, we never knew — or thought — that we were helping create the smog that eventually choked our Valley.
After all, everyone else was burning their leaves, as well.
Now, burning — of leaves and in fireplaces — is mostly banned. I know it’s for the best — but I wish our children had had the chance to see and feel and smell the glories of raking and burning leaves on autumn evenings.
And I cannot forget that autumn is the gateway to those end-of-the-year holidays I’ve loved all my life — starting, yes, with Halloween.
I did my share of trick-or-treating “back in the day” — but, of course, that lasted only a few years. The memories of that have never faded.
Nor have the memories of all those Thanksgiving and Christmas lunches my parents hosted for years at our Fresno home for my grandmothers and Uncle Jerry.
I still have black-and-white photos of a couple of those gatherings — and they’re priceless memories of my family — especially now, when I’m the last person in those photos who is still alive.
Summer’s end. Yes, we’re anxiously waiting for it.
And soon, autumn will, indeed, arrive. Emma Peel season.
The best time.